With the confidence of someone who had just punched a wyvern out of the sky, Hitomi strode into the village like she owned the place.

  The wooden gates creaked as she stepped inside, her tattered clothes rustling in the wind. She had no plan, no identity, and absolutely no understanding of social etiquette, but that had never stopped an isekai protagonist before.

  "Alright, time to blend in like a normal human," she muttered.

  She took one step forward.

  And immediately, chaos erupted.

  A nearby farmer screamed and dropped his basket of cabbages. A group of children took one look at her and started crying. An elderly man clasped his hands in prayer, as if begging the gods to spare his soul. Even the town guards—tough, battle-worn warriors—turned pale, gripping their weapons with shaking hands.

  "D-Demon Lord!!" one of them shrieked.

  Hitomi blinked. "Huh? What demon lord? Where?"

  The answer came when she turned her head slightly and caught sight of herself in a shop's reflective window.

  Her eyes were glowing. Her hair was practically floating. Blue-black lightning crackled around her like an ominous aura of destruction.

  She looked less like a wandering traveler and more like the final boss of an apocalyptic RPG.

  "Oh. Well. That's... unfortunate."

  "EVERYONE, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" someone screamed.

  "WAIT, I'M NOT—!"

  Before she could explain, a barrage of attacks rained down on her.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  A knight hurled a spear. It shattered on impact. A mage unleashed a fireball. She sneezed and it blew out like a candle. A desperate villager threw a tomato. It splattered harmlessly against her face.

  "...Okay, that one was just rude."

  Realizing that this wasn't going to end well, Hitomi did the only logical thing.

  She turned around and ran.

  **TEN MINUTES LATER, DEEP IN THE FOREST**

  Panting, she leaned against a tree. "Well, that went great. I lasted a whole five seconds before getting mistaken for the embodiment of destruction. New record."

  She collapsed onto the grass, staring at the sky. "Man, I really should've seen that coming. If I walked into a town looking like a supervillain, I'd run too."

  Just then, a notification popped up.

  [EXP Overflow Detected. Excess EXP can be converted into skills.]

  "Huh? I can do that?" She sat up, scrolling through the list. "Alright, let's see what we've got—Fireball, Lightning Strike, Ultimate Swordsmanship... nah, too predictable. I need something that stops me from scaring the entire world."

  She scrolled a bit further until something caught her eye.

  [Skill Acquired: The 100-Seal Barrier] [Effect: Places 100 celestial-level seals on the user's power, restricting them to 1/100000 of their true strength. As the user levels up, the seals gradually unlock.]

  Hitomi read it twice. Then a third time. Then burst out laughing.

  "Oh, this is PERFECT! I'm basically putting myself in a power prison! Now I can actually function like a normal adventurer instead of an overpowered cosmic horror!"

  She activated the skill. Instantly, golden chains materialized around her body, tightening before fading into her skin.

  A massive system notification appeared:

  [Warning: Power Sealed. Current Strength: 1/100000 of Full Power.]

  She stood up and took a deep breath. For the first time since reincarnating, she felt... normal. The ground didn't tremble beneath her feet. The air wasn't crackling with destructive energy. She didn't look like a harbinger of doom.

  She punched a nearby tree to test her strength.

  Instead of vaporizing it into dust, she only left a small dent.

  "HA! I'M WEAK NOW!" she cheered.

  She froze. Then realized what she just said. Then started laughing again.

  Feeling oddly satisfied; she dusted herself off. "Alright. Time to try this human civilization thing again. This time, I'll be a proper protagonist." She paused. "Or at least one that doesn't cause mass panic by existing."

  With that, she turned on her heel and made her way back to the horizon, blissfully unaware of how long it would actually take before she got treated like a normal person.

  (Spoiler: It wasn't happening anytime soon.)